Biden's State of the Union Address: Key Takeaways
Biden during the State of the Union address on March 7. Image credit: Shawn Thew/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images
In what may be his strongest speech since taking office, President Biden delivered an electrifying State of the Union address last Thursday. He stood on a platform of American morality against enemies both foreign and abroad, referencing Putin, China, and Iran as well as the January 6 insurrectionists, and drew clear political battlelines with his “predecessor.”
The address was a campaign kickoff as much as a presidential speech. He confronted accusations that he’s too old for a second term, doubts on the efficacy of his economic policy, and criticisms over his foreign policy.
And it worked. Within 24 hours, Biden’s campaign raised $10 million.
Although Biden never mentioned Trump by name, 13 references to the former president heightened the distinction between the presidential candidates, and established Biden’s platform before approximately 32.2 million people. Biden immediately addressed the threat that Putin poses—and quickly contrasted his stalwart support for Ukraine with Trump’s flippancy towards Russia. This launched Biden into an impassioned declaration that “the threat to democracy must be defeated” - and that included the January 6 insurrectionists and his predecessor. In a headline-grabbing witticism, Biden said, “you can’t love your country only when you win,” painting Trump and far-right Republicans as the antithesis of the American moral code.
He dedicated a large portion of his speech to reproductive rights, which he’s situated as a core issue to the 2024 election. He spoke about two attendees, Latorya Beasley and Kate Cox, who have experienced issues with IVF and abortion respectively due to recent conservative legislation. Biden turned to the Supreme Court justices seated in the front of the chamber and quoted the majority opinion that overturned Roe v Wade: “‘Women are not without electoral or political power.’ You’re about to realize just how much you were right about that.” A long applause came from the Democrats, many of whom wore suffragette white to advocate for reproductive freedom.
During the bulk of his speech, Biden turned from the devastating effects of Trump’s presidency to the revitalization that occurred during his: 15 million new jobs in three years, unemployment at 50-year lows, inflation at 3% (the lowest in the world), legislation that lowered the cost of insulin from $400 to $35, the lowest racial wealth gap in 20 years. He pledged to improve American infrastructure, expand Medicare, cut taxes for mortgages, increase funding to education, and create an environmentally sustainable economy while halving carbon emissions by 2030. Biden attested that he had restored the economy to pre-COVID levels, which is true, despite Republicans’ doubts, and claimed the final year of his first term would focus on “turning setback into comeback.”
But the address didn’t run entirely smoothly, as Biden’s speech was interrupted three times. First, Wisconsin Republican Representative Derrick Van Orden, who was present during the January 6 insurrection, yelled “lies” when Biden said that Trump had neglected his duty of care during the pandemic.
The second interruption came from Marjorie Taylor Greene, clad in MAGA attire (which possibly broke House rules), who yelled “what about Laken Riley?” and “say her name.” Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student at University of Georgia, has become the face of an anti-immigration campaign after she was killed by a Venezuelan immigrant. Notably, the campaign slogan Greene wore on her shirt - “say her name” - was coopted from the racial justice activist group that focuses on police-related murders of African American women.
The third interruption led to the removal of a guest in the gallery. Steve Nikoui, the father of a marine killed in a bombing in Kabul Airport during the 2021 evacuation of troops in Afghanistan, stood up and yelled “remember Abbey Gate…United States Marines! Kareem Mae’Lee Nikoui!” Nikoui has vocally blamed Biden for his son’s death for years, and his sponsor, Florida representative Brian Mast, issued a statement reiterating his claims the following day. Biden has not commented.
Even in the face of enormous political divisions within the chamber, Biden concluded his speech with a moving testament to the enduring American ideal of equality—one that America has failed to live up to, but one which he hopes it will someday. He summarized his platform in an anaphoric sequence of goals, culminating in “a future for all Americans” in which he was the president, not his predecessor.
America hasn’t had an extraordinary orator since Obama, and while Biden is no FDR or JFK, his speech surpassed expectations. It was moving, even—hopeful, fiery, and witty. Certainly, above all, it was an extraordinary moment for his campaign.